MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE – “CNN appears to be aiding and abetting the attempted overturning of gay marriage in one of the five states where it is legal,” said Republican Presidential candidate Fred Karger, who wants to be included in CNN’s New Hampshire Debate next Monday. “Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Herbert Cain and even Ron Paul have demonized the gay community time and time again.  Now these 7 debaters will go unanswered on Monday, just months away from a vote to repeal gay marriage in New Hampshire.”

See Politico Story of March 5, 2011:


N.H. gay-marriage test for 2012ers?
By: Kasie Hunt and Andy Barr

Karger went on to say, “The New Hampshire State Legislature will be taking a vote early next year on whether or not to repeal that state’s 1 ½ year old marriage equality law.  I testified at the State House on February 17, 2011 against the first of four bills to end gay marriage in New Hampshire.  I have been a strong supporter of full marriage equality forever. ”

“The issue of gay marriage and the New Hampshire law will certainly come up in Monday’s debate.  All 7 Republican candidates will be able to speak vociferously against marriage equality before millions of people, and they will go unanswered.  CNN’s New Hampshire Debate will not be fair or balanced.”   

“As the first openly gay candidate to run for President, I should be allowed on that stage.  I am the only full equality candidate running for President, including Barack Obama, whose position on gay marriage is ‘evolving.’”



“I will ask my supporters in New Hampshire and around the country to contact CNN executives and ask them to “Let Fred In.”  It’s easy.  Just write in the subject line,
"Let Fred In" and send to:

Jim Walton, President, CNN Worldwide:  jim.walton@cnn.com


Ken Jautz, Executive Vice President CNN:  ken.jautz@cnn.com

Visit www.LetFredIn.com for Fred’s earlier Memorandum to Messrs. Walton and Jautz.




The Karger campaign has many questions about the criteria which CNN used to invite participants to its New Hampshire Debate.  It appears that CNN’s debate criteria is more ‘subjective’ than ‘objective.’

Did CNN invite Rudy Giuliani just for ratings?  He has not shown any interest in running for President.  They have also invited Donald Trump and Mitch Daniels - both of whom have announced that they were not even running!



“A candidate must have received an average of at least 2% in at least three national polls released between April 1 and April 30 that were conducted by the following: ABC, AP, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, FOX, Gallup, Los Angeles Times, Marist, McClatchy, NBC, Newsweek, Pew, Quinnipiac, Reuters, USA Today and Time.”

“A candidate must have received an average of at least 2.00 % in at least three national polls released between May 1 and May 31 that were conducted by the following: ABC, AP, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, FOX, Gallup, Los Angeles Times, Marist, McClatchy, NBC, Newsweek, Pew, Quinnipiac, Reuters, USA Today and Time.”

“A candidate must have received an average of at least 2.00 % in polls of New Hampshire voters conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released between May 1 and May 31.”



The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is very clear on the rules governing debates stating that, “The organization staging the debate must select the candidates based on pre-established objective criteria.”  CNN’s criteria is objective, but was the criteria pre-established?



The FEC states that criteria must be pre-established, so that the staging organizations choose participants who fit the objective criteria from day one. 

1)    Invitations were sent to Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Jon Huntsman, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.  When were the invitations sent?

2)    Were the invitations sent out on a rolling basis, rather than after the criteria period closed?  Donald Trump was invited, but he announced he would not run on May 16, 2011.  Mike Huckabee was invited, but he announced he would not run on May 14, 2011.  Haley Barbour was not invited.  Barbour met the criteria after the April 22, 2011 release of a Gallup poll http://www.gallup.com/poll/147233/huckabee-trump-romney-pace-gop-field-2012.aspx.  Haley Barbour announced he would not run on April 25, 2011.

3)    Jon Huntsman:  Jon Huntsman did not meet the polling criteria until he received 4% in the UNH poll, which was released on May 23, 2011 at 5pm:  http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/05/23/topnh1.pdf.  Jon Huntsman announced he would not participate in the debate on May 27, 2011: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/05/27/huntsman-will-not-participate-new-hampshire-debate.  In the three full days between 5pm May 23, 2011 and May 27, 2011, Jon Huntsman would have needed to receive an invitation from the debate sponsors and have decided to decline that invitation.

4)    Herman Cain:  Herman Cain announced on or before May 24, 2011 that he would attend the NH debate.  When was he invited?  http://conservativedailynews.com/2011/05/herman-cain-to-attend-debate-in-new-hampshire/.  Herman Cain met the criteria on April 28, 2011.

5)    Rudy Giuliani:  Rudy Giuliani qualified on May 4, 2011, when the UNH Survey Center released its Granite State Poll.   When was he invited?

6)    Polling firms excluded:  Why did the criteria exclude the following polling firms: Rasmussen, Zogby, Public Policy Polling and Suffolk - all of whom conducted national polls on the Republican 2012 primary during April and May 2011?

7)    Debate Date Moved:  The Debate was originally set for June 7th, but was rescheduled to June 13th.  The decision to change the debate date was announced on April 27, 2011:  http://www.wmur.com/r/27693303/detail.html.   Why was the date moved? 

8)    UNH Survey Center Polls:   When were the UNH Survey Center's two polls about the 2012 Republican primary (which came out in May 2011) commissioned?  Were they commissioned prior to April 1, 2011 (the beginning of the criteria period)?  It is important to note that in May 2007, the UNH Survey Center did not conduct any polls about the Republican primary.



The 2007 debate was also hosted by CNN, WMUR TV and the New Hampshire Union Leader.  In this debate there were 10 participants:  Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo and Tommy Thompson.  The pre-established objective criteria for this debate was never released; however, by 2011 standards, it would have been a 6-man debate.  During April and May of 2007, Jim Gilmore, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Tommy Thompson did not average 2% on three national polls: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_Republican_Party_2008_presidential_candidates.  

If the same criteria was applied 4 years ago, UNH Survey Center polling would have excluded Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Jim Gilmore and Ron Paul, all of whom would not have met a 2% polling criteria: i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/07/17/topnh4b.pdf.



“I stated all my reasons for being including in the CNN Debate in a Memorandum to CNN executives on May 31, 2011:  CLICK HERE[ed. see below].    I would hope that the organizers would consent and let me in to Monday’s debate,” said Karger.  “CNN should lead the way and open up its debate to all serious Presidential candidates, not just some.”

---

MEMO from Karger for President

TO:  Jim Walton, President, CNN Worldwide
       Ken Jautz, Executive Vice President CNN

FROM:  Fred Karger

Date:  May 30, 2011

Re:  Let Fred In the New Hampshire Debate


The June 13, 2011 New Hampshire Republican Debate that you are hosting along with the New Hampshire Union Leader and WMUR-TV is fast approaching, and I have yet to receive an invitation.  My campaign has been in contact with CNN Senior Political Editor Mark Preston, Deputy Political Editor Paul Steinhauser and Producer Peter Hamby on several occasions.  No one has given us a definitive answer regarding my participation, and we were told that you will not make the eligibility criteria public.

I am a serious candidate for President, and I would hope that you will include me in your debate on June 13, 2011.  

I have 35 years of professional political experience, which I contend is longer than anyone else running or considering running for President in 2012.  I was heavily involved in nine Republican Presidential races and dozens of other federal, state and local campaigns.  
I worked on Ronald Reagan’s 1980 election campaign and served as a senior consultant on his 1984 reelection campaign.  I served as senior staff on his first Inaugural Committee in 1980 and 1981.  My consulting firm was under contract to his Political Action Committee, Citizens for the Republic while he was President.  No one else running has the Reagan experience that I have.  

I was the first to announce that he was considering running for the Republican nomination for President at a press conference in New Orleans at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference on April 10, 2010.

I was the first potential candidate to establish a Presidential Exploratory Committee on July 18, 2010.

And I was the first serious candidate to file for President with the Federal Election Commission on March 23, 2011.  U S News and scores of news organizations reported on my filing, and my first interview as a declared candidate was on CBS News that day.
My campaign has received tremendous worldwide coverage on major news outlets in over 25 countries.  My candidacy is unique, as I run for President of the United States as the first openly gay candidate in history.


1) Polling: I have reached an average of 1% in five polls: Zogby, Fox News, CNN, ABC/Washington Post, CNN Poll.  (The ABC/Washington Post Poll allowed for respondents to volunteer results.)  The New York Times has me statistically tied with Gary Johnson. I have been included in at least 15 online polls and have usually finished in the top tier, including one by the Republican National Committee.



2) Strong Student Support:  I won New Hampshire's largest straw poll of the 2012 cycle, held by St. Anselm College and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, site of your Debate.  I beat frontrunner Mitt Romney by 2%.



3) Media Coverage:  CNN has reported:  Fred Karger is "intriguing,"  The Union Leader's Publisher Joe McQuaid said that Fred Karger was "engaging,"  WMUR TV's Political Director James Pindell respects that Fred Karger is the only presidential candidate to “begin going to door to door, introducing himself to New Hampshire voters,” and Karger, “respects what the New Hampshire Primary is all about, so much so, he’s here more often than any other candidate. He believes New Hampshire matters.” 

The Washington Post wrote its first 2012 GOP profile on me.  Great Britain’s The Observer says that my campaign "is perhaps the furthest advanced of any potential Republican candidate." Just last week I was the first 2012 candidate to be interviewed on BBC's HardTalk in London.  I recently returned from a trip to Israel which was widely reported.  It was front page news in the Jerusalem Post and featured in U S Election News and the New York Jewish Week.  I was interviewed live from Tel Aviv on Sky News.

Fox News, MSNBC, CBS News, WMUR, The Des Moines Register, Politico and the Huffington Post all regularly include cover my campaign and include me on their lists of 2012 candidates. Rachel Maddow reported on me and featured my newest commercial on her show last week.



4) Fundraising:  Our campaign has raised more than $400,000 which is nearly 100 times the FEC's threshold to be seen as a serious candidate for federal office.  



5) Campaign Organization:  The Fred Karger for President Campaign employs an Iowa State Director, two New Hampshire coordinators and more than half a dozen consultants in Washington DC, Florida and California. 

6) Television Commercials:  I was the first to produce television ads that ran statewide in New Hampshire in September 2010 and May 2011 and Iowa in November 2010.  Here are links to the three commercials:  New Hampshire ads:  Good Morning New Hampshire and Demon Frisbee and Iowa ad: Independence Day  


I have been to New Hampshire 14 times, and have spent far more time in the Granite Stare than any other Presidential candidate. I have been to Iowa 7 times and have campaigned in over 20 states over the past 15 months.

I am an Independent Republican running for President.  I am the only moderate Republican in the current field, and strongly hope that CNN will want someone who has a broad appeal to the 42% of registered independent voters in New Hampshire and that growing independent voter block across the nation.  My positions on the important issues of today are often at odds with the other candidates and the RNC Platform.


Four year ago on June 5, 2007 CNN’s Debate was inclusive and you had ten Republicans on the stage at St. Anselm College representing a broad range of views and philosophies.  I hope that you will do the same in 2011.  The American public expects nothing less from CNN.


After reading this memorandum, I trust that you will include me in your upcoming Debate.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you on June 13, 1011 in Manchester.

cc:  Joseph McQuaid, New Hampshire Union Leader
       James Pindell, WMUR-TV
       Neil Levesque, New Hampshire Institute of Politics
       Mark Preston, CNN
       Paul Steinhauser, CNN
       Peter Hamby, CNN